Tuesday, April 11, 2017

The $71 Million Pink Star Diamond

Weighing in at 59.6 carats, just sold by Sotheby's for the record price of $71.2 million. Much to the relief of everyone in the diamond world, because they have been having trouble selling big money diamonds lately, including this one:

While the specimen itself is nothing short of impressive, the stone carries a back story that makes it even more intriguing. In 2014, Sotheby’s thought it had sold the diamond for a record-setting $83.2 million. However, its winning bidder, a diamond dealer by the name of Isaac Wolf, failed to pay up after his investors backed out, leaving Sotheby’s in a lurch.

The usual custom would be to approach the second-highest bidder, but for undisclosed reasons, the Pink Star – among the most spectacular and rare diamonds ever to surface – ended up remaining in the auction house’s inventory instead. . . .

Sotheby’s failed to move the Lesedi la Rona, a 1,109-carat rough diamond, the second-largest rough diamond to be discovered in more than a century, in London last June. It was estimated to sell for $70 million, but couldn’t find a buyer. Similarly in April 2016, the Shirley Temple, a polished blue diamond with Hollywood credentials thought to be worth $35 million, also didn’t sell, which, according to Kormind, “prompted gasps of shock in the Sotheby’s New York sales room.”

But all those issues have eased now — and an improving American economy plus a Trump presidency has the superwealthy feeling more bullish, prompting Sotheby’s to bring the pink diamond back out, although at a conservative estimate of $60 million.